Thanks to Ayshea Buksh and BBC News Online for the Headline.
“Barnet” Homes is a Company owned by Barnet Council in London. They appointed the ex-Director of Housing who was in post at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea when the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people in June 2017. During the public inquiry into the disaster it was stated by her when giving evidence about what she would have done differently “if only we had more due diligence in relation to the cladding that was placed on the tower”
Barnet Homes is an arm’s-length management organisation (Almo) responsible for managing more than 14,000 council-owned properties in the north London borough. Why do we need (Almo’s) are these a council thing?
Barnet Council employed the ex-Director as she was the best candidate for the job, and of course all these decisions are confidential for the benefit of the candidate, she joined Barnet Homes in 2024 and was appointed to a senior role earlier this year.
She is no longer in post as the Metropolitan Police announced recently it had referred 54 individuals and 20 Companies and organisations to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as part of it’s investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire. I don’t know if the two are related as surely the CPS are the ones who decide if there is sufficient evidence to prosecute.
It’s one example( apparently there are more) where despite a high-profile Public Inquiry and much discussion and identification about what went wrong that caused the horrific fire at Grenfell that the findings are not considered when making appointments to jobs with similar responsibilities.
It does seem strange that Barnet Housing weren’t aware of the details of the Public Inquiry, and the possibility of legal proceedings. It does make me think that perhaps interviewers need to have a broader perspective and sensitivities to those who may have lost loved ones in high profile disasters that their candidates have admitted that their due diligence was not sufficient prior to the disaster.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
